Feeling spurned, Khaosan sellers to march on city hall

By Jintamas Saksornchai, Staff Reporter

 

Khaosan Road at night. Photo: Bfick / Flickr

 

BANGKOK — Khaosan Road vendors Monday called for a demonstration tomorrow to protest City Hall’s failure to explain new regulations to be enforced in two days.

 

Vendor representative Yada Pornpetrumpa announced they would march Tuesday morning on the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration after city and local police failed to meet with them today. The Monday meeting, held at a nearby school, had been arranged to discuss a recently announced plan to rein in their operations, the details of which they only learned yesterday.

 

Full Story: http://www.khaosodenglish.com/featured/2018/07/30/feeling-spurned-khaosan-sellers-to-march-on-city-hall/

 

-- © Copyright Khaosod English 2018-7-30

 

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Khaosan vendors call on BMA to scrap ban on pavement stalls

By KORNRAWEE PANYASUPPAKUN 
THE NATION 

 

Photo : Tanachai Pramarnpanich

 

STREET VENDORS in Khaosan Road – one of Bangkok’s most famous districts – are calling on the city’s administration to cancel the ban on footpath stalls in their area.

 

The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) plans to ban stalls on the hugely popular Khaosan Road footpaths from tomorrow and limit trading from 6pm to midnight. The BMA also hopes to set up zones for food, clothing, massage and miscellaneous items. 

 

About 300 street vendors on Khaosan Road, who will suffer financially from the move, want the plan scrapped.

 

Yada Pornpetrumpa, president of Khaosan Road Street Vendor Association, said yesterday that a petition will ask Bangkok Deputy Governor Sakoltee Phattiyakul to indefinitely shelve the plan. 

 

Speaking on condition of anonymity, a member of the association said she could not agree with the BMA plan because it would cut her income by half.

 

“We will not only |submit a petition to Sakoltee but we will also try to seek a meeting with him,” she said. 

 

When the ban is implemented, street |vendors will only be allowed to operate their stalls on the road between 6pm and |midnight. 

 

A vendor said the plan would hurt her livelihood because she normally operates her stall between 10am and 1am. “I don’t think people will feel like shopping between 6pm and midnight. It’s the hours for relaxing,” she said. If all street stalls moved off the pavement and onto the road, it would become too crowded for shoppers, she added.

 

Yada also wondered if the BMA has talked to all relevant authorities. “What if Chanasongkram traffic police take action against us once we move our stalls to the road?” she asked. 

 

A street vendor said her group would discuss the BMA response before planning any further moves. 

 

“The BMA should show what preparations it has made if it is going to change the way that the lively trade on Khaosan Road is conducted,” she said. 

 

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/national/30351079

 

-- © Copyright The Nation 2018-07-31

Go traders go no thought is put into this clear out what so ever its not like they can just pack up and sign on the dole and universal credit ?

Quote

All vendors will start marching from Khaosan Road at 9am to the City Hall

Damn, does this mean the representative office of Johns Hopkins University will be closed? I have an appointment to get my PhD in neurosurgery from there at 9.30am tomorrow.

 

30 minutes ago, Darcula said:

Damn, does this mean the representative office of Johns Hopkins University will be closed? I have an appointment to get my PhD in neurosurgery from there at 9.30am tomorrow.

 

Don't panic you can still get a rubber stamp with your name on it to fill in the blanks mine said PDh but no one noticed?

8 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

A vendor said the plan would hurt her livelihood because she normally operates her stall between 10am and 1am. “I don’t think people will feel like shopping between 6pm and midnight. It’s the hours for relaxing,” she said. If all street stalls moved off the pavement and onto the road, it would become too crowded for shoppers, she added.

That must be a very wierd vendor, or another possibility is that she just like to work for nothing. At present time and under the conditions that are, she is working from 10 am - 1 am. Now they will only be able to operativ between 6 pm - midnight according to the new rules. Then she scream that she do not believe people feel like shopping during that time. Why in the world was she operating during that time already, when she do not believe it´s a good time for selling??

There are only two good answers to that my dear fellow commenters:

 

* The woman simply do not have a life to go home to

* She has a sideline business, that gives her an income during the hours of boozing

10 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

Feeling spurned, Khaosan sellers to march on city hall

I doubt it is their feelings that concerns them. More likely their livelihood.

11 hours ago, Darcula said:

Damn, does this mean the representative office of Johns Hopkins University will be closed? I have an appointment to get my PhD in neurosurgery from there at 9.30am tomorrow.

 

no problem, you can have a PhD from thaifriendy university as half of girls there already do

I can see the dangers that BMA are referring to, safety and all that, but how about a compromise, thin the Khoasan Sellers out, offer them alternative trading hours, some sell during day light hours whilst others at night ... and then vice versa, make sure all venders have 'permits' and an allocated selling space ... arrrrhhh what am I talking about, organization ? In Thailand ... forget sunshine, back to other topics ...

But it is true that the BMA and others don't consider the income for these people, they must be pretty desperate to put up with all the heat, dust, rain, cold, and a tremendouse amount of sweaty farang every where.

one less hour at night or make it 1 hr earlier for trading.does 1 hr make a difference round there and bkk in general.i think not

Little imagination other than to complain rather than explore new opportunities elsewhere .......

Khaosan Sellers occupy illegally public ground and feel spurned......Thai logic.

I was in Khaosan Road a week ago during the afternoon and the only access problems that may have existed were caused by tuktuks blocking each end of the road! The street stalls were orderly, not doing a huge amount of trade,  and the only annoyances were from the mainly Indian fake IDsellers and tailors.

 

Why can't they just leave these things alone? 

We're talking about public streets here.

 

But as there ain't nothing free, somebody 'controls' these streets. I don't think it's city hall.

 

The vendors ought to complain to those they pay their "rents" for their allocated street space to.  

 

 

12 hours ago, Darcula said:

Damn, does this mean the representative office of Johns Hopkins University will be closed? I have an appointment to get my PhD in neurosurgery from there at 9.30am tomorrow.

 

Cannot see it here; sold already 

 

Edited July 31, 20187 yr by Assurancetourix
cannot see my picture

27 minutes ago, Assurancetourix said:

Cannot see it here; sold already 

 

No "BMA Official Khaosan Vendor License" on sale yet?

26 minutes ago, Assurancetourix said:

Cannot see it here; sold already 

 

The funny thing is, I have a real thai id card. 

When I present it at various needed places, there's a smirk, followed by a whispering huddle chat with loud snickers, followed by "yeah right, now show us your passport please". 

After presenting my thai passport, more smirks, with an eye brow lift look of are you seriously taking the mickey out of me? followed by "The real one please". Of which I concede defeat and present my original expired passport. Which is duely accepted. 

Autocracy in action.  The only good thing is that little p will be running, through the back door, as a candidate and the junta party will have to defend bone headed moves like this one.   The coup leader will have to depend on proxies, patsies, less than nimble minds, putzes, yutzes, shills, nameless enforcers and the highly medicated to defend all of his missteps

 

Agreed walking down Khaosan is no fun at times, but working out a solution for your number one tourist attraction would have been the smart thing to do. 

3 hours ago, DoctorG said:

I doubt it is their feelings that concerns them. More likely their livelihood.

So what's the difference. My feelings would be very strong if my livelihood was more than halved.

A vendor said the plan would hurt her livelihood because she normally operates her stall between 10am and 1am. “I don’t think people will feel like shopping between 6pm and midnight. It’s the hours for relaxing,

 

So why does she keep her stall open now between 6pm & 1am if it's not a busy period for shoppers.. she's talking rubbish??

Maybe some residents & shoppers are fed up with having to walk in the road because the pavements have been taken over by vendors.. I'm not saying I'm not in favour of vendors.. just find a good location where they can trade & if people want to go shop they can go there, not block roads or walk-ways!

 

Edited July 31, 20187 yr by hotchilli

1 hour ago, madmitch said:

I was in Khaosan Road a week ago during the afternoon and the only access problems that may have existed were caused by tuktuks blocking each end of the road! The street stalls were orderly, not doing a huge amount of trade,  and the only annoyances were from the mainly Indian fake IDsellers and tailors.

 

Why can't they just leave these things alone? 

I agree whats blocking there are just these tuktuks.. at most they should have some a parking stand on remote location 

13 hours ago, sammieuk1 said:

Don't panic you can still get a rubber stamp with your name on it to fill in the blanks mine said PDh but no one noticed?

That's for

Painter Decorator ( house )

If you let your children do whatever they pleased for the first 7 years and when they turned 8 started to discipline them what would be the outcome? 

What l think of this government and city hall can't be spoken here lol

2 hours ago, madmitch said:

I was in Khaosan Road a week ago during the afternoon and the only access problems that may have existed were caused by tuktuks blocking each end of the road! The street stalls were orderly, not doing a huge amount of trade,  and the only annoyances were from the mainly Indian fake IDsellers and tailors.

 

Why can't they just leave these things alone? 

The "they" are Thai . I am not, and opt to let them work it out. I may live here, but will mind my own business in this case.

In other words...'''If we can't get our own way we are going to have a tantrum ''' !      Normal Thai behaviour......Next !

Yarda Pornpetrumpa, wouldn’t want to be marching behind her☠️?.

Edited July 31, 20187 yr by Sprigger

1 hour ago, Benmart said:

The "they" are Thai . I am not, and opt to let them work it out. I may live here, but will mind my own business in this case.

There are no rules on this forum that suggests because you are non Thai that you do not have an opinion.  In a country seized by a military, free voices are needed.  The coup is an example how things get worked out here.   Given that example, do you still think things will get worked out?   It is in the news,  it is everybody's business. 

Pay taxes. 

I do not blame these vendors for feeling spurned. Khaosan Road is a walking street after dark, and these people

are only trying to make a living.

 

I am the first person to have a go at vendors blocking the pavement and forcing foot traffic on to the road like they used to do at Lower Sukhumvit, odd Soi's.

 

I cannot see any excuse for the authorities to stop these vendors wanting to ply there trade in Khaosan Road.

16 hours ago, Darcula said:

Damn, does this mean the representative office of Johns Hopkins University will be closed? I have an appointment to get my PhD in neurosurgery from there at 9.30am tomorrow.

 

It seems I just got there on time to get some things to use to my advantage when I go for a short vacation in the UK.